Art beat in May

Hard-rocking Shakespeare

Beijing People's Art Theater presents one of the Bard's most controversial creations, Tragedy of Coriolanus, in commemoration of the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth. Starring China's renowned actor Pu Cunxin, the play is based on the translation by the late Ying Ruocheng, one of modern China's most established and earliest dramatists. The Chinese version of the play carries on the thick, heavy and dark spirit of the original work, and the unexpected use of hard rock by the country's top heavy-metal bands is a brilliant touch.

7:30 pm, May 9-10. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.

-Han Bingbin

Songs of Sweden

Swedish singer-songwriter Anna von Hausswolff will kick off her first China tour in Beijing. The 27-year-old released her debut single Track of Time in 2010 and followed that with her debut album, Singing From the Grave, which was well-received in her home country. She has also recorded three albums as a pianist.

8 pm, May 10. Mako Livehouse, inside Hongdian Art Factory, Courtyard 36 (500 meters south of Carrefour Shuangjing, inside small alley), Guangqu Lu (Road), Chaoyang district. 010-5205-1113.

Acrobats' dreams of gold

One of China's most-honored performance troupes, the China National Acrobatic Troupe, will perform the acrobatic play The Dream of Golden Clown. With dazzling movements and intoxicating music, the story is about a young man following his dream of winning the Golden Clown Award, the highest prize for acrobats in the world. The choreography incorporates many acrobatic acts that have actually won the Golden Clown Award.

7:30 pm, May 10-11. Ethnic Cultural Palace Theater, Fuxingmennei Dajie (Street), Xicheng district, Beijing. 400-610-3721.

Ning plays Paganini plus

Chinese violinist Ning Feng will give his recital in Beijing, playing Shostakovich's violin sonata Op 134, Glazunov's Meditation and Paganini's I Palpiti. Born in Chengdu, the 35-year-old violinist is a graduate of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and London's Royal Academy of Music and won first prize in the International Paganini Competition in 2006. Now based in Berlin and performing worldwide, he has developed a reputation internationally as an artist with great emotional transparency and grand technical accomplishment.

7:30 pm, May 11. Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Bei Xinhua Jie (Street), Xicheng district. 4006-228-228.

Dance meets kung fu

The dance drama Shaolin in the Wind will be presented this weekend, getting kung fu fans' adrenalin flowing. The visual impact is stunning. The stage setting reproduces the Shaolin Temple and magnificent scenes involving more than 90 performers to showcase dazzling martial arts. The choreographer also adds some fun to the display of Shaolin kung fu. For example, naughty monks in the drama play with brooms as if they were swords. The production by Zhengzhou Song and Dance Theater has been staged at home and abroad almost 300 times since its premier in October 2004.

8 pm, May 10-11. Opera Hall of Guangzhou Opera House, 1 Zhujiang West Road, Zhujiang New Town. 020-3839-2888.